Battle of Donobyu - First Anglo-Burmese War
The Kings of Ava, since the latter part of the 18th century, had been rising to power over the petty chieftains around them and establishing an empire in what is now Burma. Their expansion brought them as far as the British possessions of Bengal and Chittagong. Attacks on British posts in September 1823 and January 1824 resulted in the Governor General India declaring war on the Kings of Ava on 24 February 1824. Major General Sir Archibald Campbell's expedition, the main of four attacking forces invading Burma, assembled in the Andaman Islands and sailed for Rangoon on 5 May 1824. There the 89th joined as reinforcements in December 1824 for Campbell's campaign to advance along the River Irrawaddy to Ava, north of Rangoon. In August 1824, the 89th were sent south to the province of Tennasserim. By December, the 89th were back fighting around Rangoon.
As a result of Campbell's actions around Rangoon the Burmese commander, Bundoola, fell back to the fortified stockades at Donobyu. On 6 March 1825, Brigadier Willoughby Cotton, leading a column that included the 89th Regiment, approached the main Burmese position at Donobyu; it was formidable. There were three timber stockades, one inside the other. Each had apertures for cannon and each was surrounded by a ditch containing sharpened stakes.
The next day, 7 March 1825, Cotton's men, mainly the 89th supported by artillery, attacked. After a brisk fight they burst into the first stockade killing large numbers of enemy and capturing 300 prisoners at a cost of 20 casualties. Following an artillery preparation against the second stockade, Cotton sent forward a storming party of 200. Struggling with the stakes in the ditch, the storming party suffered such heavy casualties from the intense fire of the defenders that Cotton realised he had too few men to succeed. He called off the attack and withdrew. In this action the 89th suffered the heaviest losses of the war - two officers and 10 men killed, three officers and 58 men wounded.
